Turtle, starling and reindeer tongue - rare menu reveals Christmas dinner at a Bristol pub 200 years ago

Hate brussels sprouts with your Christmas dinner? Well, imagine turtle, starlings, owls and reindeer.

An extraordinary set of ‘bill of fare’ menus showing festive food at a former pub in Bristol for 1790 and 1800 has emerged, providing a glimpse at the exoticfestive food laid out for revellers more than 200 years ago.

The pair of vast bills list over 100 bizarre dishes issued by the landlord of the Bush Tavern in Corn Street.

The coaching inn was made famous by writer Dickens who used it as a setting for his novel ‘The Pickwick Papers’ after visiting in 1835.

The lists includes items such as turtles, eels, reindeer tongues, feet and veal head.

They go on sale on December 15 at Dominic Winter Auctioneers - and the pair of bills are expected to go for between £500 - £800.

Auctioneer Chris Aldbury told BristolWorld: “There is always a strong interest in items like this which tell alot about society at the time.

“As a country we have shied away from eating birds, but back then they were obviously very popular.

“We think the turtle would have come from the West Indies.”

He added: “This food would have been popular, even if it seems so strange to us today.”

The 1790 bill of fare includes a roasting pig, reindeer tongue and a 47-pound turtle - the 1800 menu includes a 120-pound turtle.

Numerous birds are listed including cuckoo, owls, golden plovers, swan, larks, sea pheasants (pintail duck) and stares (starlings).

Many of the items are described in odd quantities, such as 122 eels, 208 small birds, 94 wild ducks and 470 minced pies.

Turkeys were apparently plentiful both years too.

The tavern was occupied by a Lloyds Bank until it closed in 2014.

For more information, bidders can view the item online or in-person at Dominic Winters Auctioneers website under lot 279.